A no body checking policy in Pee Wee ice hockey could avoid 1273 injuries and save $C213,280 in healthcare costs during one season compared to allowing body checking.
Does a policy disallowing body checking reduce injuries and healthcare costs in Pee Wee ice hockey players?
A policy disallowing body checking in Pee Wee ice hockey is cost-saving and associated with fewer injuries compared to allowing body checking.
Absolute Event Rate: 0% vs 0%
Background/aim The risk of injury among Pee Wee (ages 11–12 years) ice hockey players in leagues that allow body checking is threefold greater than in leagues that do not allow body checking. We estimated the cost–effectiveness of a no body checking policy versus a policy that allows body checking in Pee Wee ice hockey. Methods Cost–effectiveness analysis alongside a prospective cohort study during the 2007–2008 season, including players in Quebec (n=1046), where policy did not allow body checking, and in Alberta (n=1108), where body checking was allowed. Injury incidence rates (injuries/1000 player-hours) and incidence proportions (injuries/100 players), adjusted for cluster using Poisson regression, allowed for standardised comparisons and meaningful translation to community stakeholders. Based on Alberta fee schedules, direct healthcare costs (physician visits, imaging, procedures) were adjusted for cluster using bootstrapping. We examined uncertainty in our estimates using cost–effectiveness planes. Results Associated with significantly higher injury rates, healthcare costs where policy allowed body checking were over 2. 5 times higher than where policy disallowed body checking (C473/1000 player-hours (95% CI C358 to C603) vs C184/1000 player-hours (95% CI C120 to C257) ). The difference in costs between provinces was C289/1000 player-hours (95% CI C153 to C432). Projecting results onto Alberta Pee Wee players registered in the 2011–2012 season, an estimated 1273 injuries and C213 280 in healthcare costs would be avoided during just one season with the policy change. Conclusion Our study suggests that a policy disallowing body checking in Pee Wee ice hockey is cost-saving (associated with fewer injuries and lower costs) compared to a policy allowing body checking. As we did not account for long-term outcomes, our results underestimate the economic impact of these injuries.
Lacny et al. (Fri,) reported a other. A no body checking policy in Pee Wee ice hockey could avoid 1273 injuries and save $C213,280 in healthcare costs during one season compared to allowing body checking.